Interface structure
An interface structure connecting an electronic component to a circuit board. The interface structure includes a base defining an elongated through hole with a central axis and a coil spring retained in the elongated through hole. The coil spring has a proximal portion and a distal portion extending from the elongated through hole in an uncompressed condition and being offset at an angle with respect to the central axis. As the coil spring is compressed, the coil spring creates a force having a component substantially perpendicular to the central axis.
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This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-242793 filed Dec. 14, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present disclosure relates to an interface structure using spring contacts, particularly to the interface structure for detachably connecting an electronic component such as an IC socket to a board.
IC sockets have been widely used as an interface for electrically connecting a semiconductor device to a print board. An IC socket loading a surface-mount type semiconductor device such as BGA (Ball Grid Array), CSP (Chip Sized Package) or LGA (Land Grid Array) includes a base member on which the bottom surface of the semiconductor device is loaded, and a cover member that presses the loaded semiconductor device to the base member so as to allow solder balls at the bottom of the semiconductor device to contact with probe pins [See, for example, Japanese Patent publication no. 2001-093634A.
The IC socket is also mounted on a circuit board for measuring electrical characteristics or reliability of the loaded semiconductor device. In such mounting, since the terminals of the socket and the circuit board are directly connected each other by the solder, the socket cannot be easily removed from the board. Correspondingly, Japanese Patent No. 4854612B provides an adapter for socket for allowing the socket to be removed from the board.
The adaptor 10 includes a main adaptor 12 which includes a lower adaptor 12a and an upper adaptor 12b. A plurality of through holes 14 are formed in the lower adaptor 12a and the upper adaptor 12b respectively, whose positions correspond to each contact 50. Additional through holes 64 for positioning are also formed in each corner portion of the main adaptor 12 to insert the post portion 36 of the socket 20. A probe pin 60 and a coil spring 62 for urging the probe pin 60 are accommodated in the through hole 14, and the probe pin 60 holds the contact inserted from the through hole 14.
The conventional adaptor for socket as shown in
The present disclosure solves the above problems and intends to provide an inexpensive interface structure that enables highly reliable electrical connection.
One embodiment of the subject technology is directed to an interface structure of an electronic component comprising: a main portion made of electrically insulating material, the main portion including a first main surface, a second main surface opposite to the first main surface, and a plurality of through holes passing from the first main surface to the second main surface, an inner wall of each through hole applied with a conductive plating; and a plurality of coil springs made of electrically conductive material, each coil spring being received in the corresponding through hole of the main portion; wherein the coil spring includes a connection portion for connecting a terminal of the electronic component inserted from the through hole at the side of the first main surface, a movable contact portion for contacting with a conductive region at the side of the second main surface, and an elastic portion connected between the connection portion and the movable contact portion.
Preferably, the movable contact portion includes an end portion that is inclined in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the coil spring. Preferably, the movable contact portion moves on the conductive region in a horizontal direction due to the inclination of the end portion when the movable contact portion contacts with the conductive region. Preferably, at lease a part of the elastic portion contacts with the plating when the movable contact portion contacts with the conductive region. Preferably, the elastic portion is buckled due to the horizontal movement of the movable contact portion when the movable contact portion contacts with the conductive region. Preferably, the through hole includes a first through hole portion opening at the side of the first main surface and a second through hole portion opening at the side of the second main surface, wherein the diameter of the first through hole portion is larger than that of the second through hole portion and the external diameter of the connection portion of the coil spring is larger than that of the elastic portion, and wherein the connection portion is supported by a step portion between the first and second through hole portions. Preferably, the connection portion has the internal diameter larger than the terminal of the electronic component and the elastic portion has the internal diameter smaller than the terminal of the electronic component. Preferably, the interface structure further comprises a guide member over the first main surface of the main portion, the guide member including a plurality of through holes at the positions corresponding to each through hole of the main portion, the through hole of the guide member guiding the terminal of the electronic component to the main portion. Preferably, the diameter of the through hole of the guide member is smaller than that of the first through hole portion of the main portion. Preferably, the electronic component is a socket that loads a semiconductor device detachably and the conductive region is an electrode formed on the circuit board.
An interface structure comprises: a socket for loading a semiconductor device; a circuit board; and an adaptor for socket for providing an interface connection between the socket and the circuit board; wherein the adaptor for socket comprises: a main portion made of electrically insulating material, the main portion including a first main surface, a second main surface opposite to the first main surface, and a plurality of through holes passing from the first main surface to the second main surface, an inner wall of each through hole applied with a conductive plating; and a plurality of coil springs made of electrically conductive material, each coil spring being received in the corresponding through hole of the main portion; wherein the coil spring includes a connection portion for connecting a terminal of the electronic component inserted from the through hole at the side of the first main surface, a movable contact portion for contacting with a conductive region at the side of the second main surface, and an elastic portion connected between the connection portion and the movable contact portion. Preferably, the socket is removable from the adaptor for socket.
According to the present disclosure, the inner wall of the through hole of the main portion is plated and the coil spring for contacts is received in the through hole, so that the interface structure may be inexpensive compared with the structure with conventional probe pins and may shorten the current path through the plating of the inner wall of the through hole, thereby reducing the electrical resistance.
It should be appreciated that the subject technology can be implemented and utilized in numerous ways, including without limitation as a process, an apparatus, a system, a device, a method for applications now known and later developed and a device with the functions of the subject technology. These and other unique features of the system disclosed herein will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.
So that those having ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosed system appertains will more readily understand how to make and use the same, reference may be had to the following drawings.
The subject technology overcomes many of the prior art problems of socket adapators. The advantages, and other features of the technology disclosed herein, will become more readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of certain preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings which set forth representative embodiments of the present invention and wherein like reference numerals identify similar structural elements. References such as up, down, upper, lower, right and left are generally with respect to the figures and not meant in a limiting sense.
Now embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In a preferred embodiment, the interface structure according to the present disclosure is carried out as an adaptor for socket. It should be noted that the drawings emphasize each portion for clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale with respect to an actual device.
The socket 100 shown in
The left side of
A contact hold member 112 for holding a plurality of contacts 130 is attached to the central portion of the base member 110. The plurality of contacts 130 are arranged in a two dimensional matrix formed by the contact hold member 112. A distal contact lead 134 projects from the bottom surface of the base member 110. Also, a plurality of cylindrical posts 140 for positioning and/or fixing are formed at each corner portion of the bottom surface of the base member 110.
Referring in particular to
While the adaptor 200 is configured with two layers of the plate 210 and the base 220, the plate 210 may not necessarily be provided. Preferably, the plate 210 guides the contact leads 134 protruded from the socket 100 into the through holes 222 of the base 220. The plate 210 and the base 220 are made of a material for printed circuit boards such as a heat resistant epoxy resin. Alternatively, polyethersulfone (PES), polyetherimide (PEI), polyphenylene sulfide resin (PPS) or liquid crystal polymer (LCP) and the like may be employed.
The plate 210 is generally rectangular-shaped including a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface and formed with a plurality of through holes 212 at the central portion that penetrate from the upper surface to the lower surface. The pitch of the through hole 212 corresponds to that of the contacts 130, and the number of the through holes 212 is typically at least not lower than that of the contacts 130. The diameter of the through holes 212 is sufficient for the contact lead 134 to be passed through. Opening portions 216 are formed at each corner of the plate 210 and the base 220 for inserting the post portion 140 of the socket 100. Preferably, the post portions 140 are detachably engaged with the opening portions 216, namely the socket 100 may be easily removed from the adaptor 200.
The base 220 is generally rectangular-shaped including a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface and has nearly the same size as the plate 210. The plurality of through holes 222 penetrating from the upper surface to the lower surface are formed in the central portion of the base 220 so as to align with the positions of each through hole 212 of the plate 210. The through hole 222 is configured to include two sizes of an upper through hole 222A and a lower through hole 222B, as shown in
As shown in
The external diameter of the elastic portion 234 is smaller than that of the closely winding portion 232 and the internal diameter of the elastic portion 234 is smaller than the width of the contact lead (not the taper portion 134A). Therefore, the taper portion 134A may be entered into the internal diameter of the elastic portion 234, whereas the contact lead 134 sticks the inner wall of the elastic portion 234 and then stops there. Also the axial length of the elastic portion 234 is adjusted such that the movable contact portion 236 may protrude from the bottom surface of the base 220 when the coil spring 230 is inserted into the through hole 222 of the base 220. The movable contact portion 236 is configured by closely winding the coils at multiple times (for example, a couple of times), which have the same external diameter as the elastic portion 234, and the end portion of the movable contact portion 236 is inclined at an angle θ(theta) with respect to the axial direction C. The angle θ is, for example, within the range of 10 degree to 20 degree, more preferably, about 15 degree. The movable contact portion 236 is moved in the axial direction C as well as moved slightly in an orthogonal direction (horizontal direction) to the axial direction C by a component force, when the force in the axial direction C is applied as discussed below.
In the assembly of coil spring 230, the plate 210 and the base 220 are initially separated from each other, then the coil spring 230 is inserted into the through hole 222 of the base 210 from the upper side as shown in
Now as shown in
Then, the adaptor 200 is attached to the circuit board 300 as shown in
Furthermore, the electrode 310 of the circuit board 300 may be wiped by using the coil spring 230 according to the present embodiment, as shown in
Furthermore, the movement of the movable contact portion 236 in the horizontal direction along arrow H makes the elastic portion 234 buckle. For the coil spring without a movable contact portion moving in the horizontal direction, such coil spring may not necessary be buckled, namely, some coil springs are buckled and some coil springs are not buckled, which causes the large variation of the electrical resistance between contacts. In addition, for a burn-in test socket, the thermal expansion or thermal compression of the coil spring due to a large thermal change applied to the coil spring 230 makes the buckling unstable, so that the electrical resistance between the contacts becomes unstable as well. In the present embodiment, the movable contact portion 236 is applied with the force H in the horizontal direction, so that the buckling of the coil spring 230 is facilitated and stabilized, thereby avoiding the variation of the electrical resistance between the contacts.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the electrical path may be shortened by plating the inner walls of the through holes of the base, and the wiping, which was not performed in the conventional spring contact, so that a high reliable interface function may be achieved. Furthermore, the subject socket and burn-in socket may be used for inexpensive surface-mount type socket. Furthermore, since expensive probe pins are not used which are employed in the conventional adaptor for socket, the inexpensive surface-mount type socket may be achieved. Furthermore, since the socket may be removed from the adaptor for socket, the maintenance for the socket is easily performed.
Now, a second assembly operation of the adaptor for socket according to the present embodiment will be explained. In the first assemble operation, the socket 100 is initially installed in the adaptor 200, and then the circuit board 300 is installed. Such assembly order is optional. In the second assembly operation, the adaptor 200 is initially installed on the circuit board 300, and then the socked 100 is installed in the adaptor 200 and the semiconductor device is loaded into the socket 100.
As shown in
Then, the socket 100 is installed in the adaptor 200 as shown in
In the above embodiments, although the adaptor for socket for connecting the socket and circuit board is illustrated as the interface structure, such interface structure according to the present disclosure may make connections between other electronic component and the circuit board or between a plurality of electronic components.
An explanation or legend of Letters or Numerals follows:
-
- 100—socket;
- 110—base member;
- 120—cover member;
- 130—contact;
- 134—contact lead;
- 200—adaptor for socket;
- 210—plate;
- 212—through hole;
- 220—base;
- 222—through hole;
- 222A—upper through hole;
- 222B—lower through hole;
- 230—coil spring;
- 232—closely winding portion;
- 234—elastic portion;
- 236—movable contact portion;
- 300—circuit board; and
- 310—electrode.
All patents, patent applications and other references disclosed herein are hereby expressly incorporated in their entireties by reference. As explained above, although the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, it is not intended to limit the disclosure to these specific exemplary embodiments according to an aspect of the disclosure. It should be understood that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the inventive scope which is defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. An interface structure for connecting an electronic component to a circuit board, the interface structure comprising:
- a base defining an elongated through hole;
- a coil spring retained in the elongated through hole, the coil spring having: a proximal portion; a distal portion; and an intermediate portion extending between the proximal portion and the distal portion, wherein the distal and intermediate portions have a same external diameter, wherein, when the coil spring is an uncompressed condition, the distal portion is inclined at an angle θ>0° with respect to a central axis of the intermediate portion of the coil spring, and wherein the distal portion extends outside the elongated through hole so that as the coil spring is compressed, the coil spring creates a force having a component substantially perpendicular to the central axis.
2. The interface structure of claim 1, wherein the elongated through hole has an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion having a relatively larger diameter than the lower portion,
- wherein the proximal portion is closely wound with a relatively larger diameter than the intermediate and distal portions, the respective diameters of the proximal and intermediate portions being sized comparably to fit within the upper and lower portions of the elongated through hole, respectively.
3. The interface structure of claim 1, wherein the upper portion and lower portion of the elongated through hole form a transitional step portion for supporting the coil spring when a contact pin is inserted into the coil spring.
4. The interface structure of claim 1, wherein the coil spring buckles when compressed.
5. The interface structure of claim 1, wherein the base is fabricated from an electrically isolative material, the coil spring is conductive, and the elongated through hole has a conductive plating on an inner wall of the elongated through hole.
6. The interface structure of claim 1, further comprising an intermediate plate having a second through hole aligned with the elongated through hole for guiding a contact pin into the coil spring.
7. The interface structure of claim 6, wherein the intermediate plate also retains the coil spring in the elongated through hole.
8. The interface structure of claim 7, wherein the second through hole has a smaller diameter than an upper portion of the elongated through hole for retaining the coil spring.
9. The interface structure of claim 1, wherein the base defines a plurality of elongated through holes, and wherein a coil spring is in each of the plurality of elongated through holes.
10. The interface structure of claim 1, wherein the electronic component comprises a socket.
11. The interface structure of claim 1, wherein the angle θ is in a range of 10° to 20°.
12. The interface structure of claim 11, wherein the angle θ is 15°.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Dec 12, 2016
Date of Patent: Jul 14, 2020
Patent Publication Number: 20170171985
Assignee: Sensata Technologies (Attleboro, MA)
Inventor: Hideyuki Takahashi (Shizuoka)
Primary Examiner: A. Dexter Tugbang
Application Number: 15/376,286
International Classification: H01R 12/70 (20110101); H01R 24/58 (20110101); H01R 43/20 (20060101); H01R 13/24 (20060101); G01R 1/04 (20060101); H01R 12/71 (20110101); H01R 13/11 (20060101); H01R 13/631 (20060101); H05K 3/32 (20060101); H05K 7/10 (20060101); G01R 3/00 (20060101);